Human obesity or overweight is a recognized health problem. The accumulation or maintenance of body fat bears a direct relationship to caloric intake. Most weight control programs involve some restriction or alteration of the diet. However, there have also been various proposals to alter or interfere with the body's mechanism for utilizing food, as for example by an intestinal by-pass operation. Also the use of fat absorption inhibitors for the purpose of weight control has been proposed, as in the use of inhibitors of the enzyme intestinal alkaline phosphatase in U.S. Pat. No. 3,809,752. In application Ser. No. 353,832 (now U.S. Pat. No. 3,923,972) and other applications referenced above, polymeric materials are described as useful for controlling blood cholesterol levels, and evidence indicates that this effect is achieved by interference with absorption or transport of fats in the diet, particularly as it relates to assimilation of cholesterol.